Erich Raeder.
By: Kylee Thompson.
B4. Erich Raeder was Commander of the German Navy in 1928 to 1943 during the Second World War. He was in trial at the Nuremburg trials and found guilty for war crimes. He received life in prison for his punishment. He had been in jail for nine years from 1946 to 1955. He died at the age of 84 in 1960. Before the trial he thought he would be sentenced to death so he was going to request being killed by a gun. Erich Raeder said he wanted to be killed; he wanted them to shoot him.The reason he was in the Nuremburg Trials was because he ordered submarines to attack neutral ships with no warning.
Q. Why were you tried in these trials, and what is your name..? A. I was Commander of the German Navy from 1928 to 1943. But my name is Erich Raeder. Q. Do you think that you committed the crimes that you were convicted of? A. I knew that I was breaking the law of the war when I did it, but I figured other countries were doing the same thing.
Q. And what were you convicted of..? A. Conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against planning, peace, and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, and the war crimes.
Q. Do you believe that your punishment was right..? A. I believe that I should just be killed, that was my thought at the beginning.
Q. Do you think you did the right think when you had followed Hitler..? A. He had been the dictator type of Germany so I figured that I should probably follow him.
Q. What would you say about Hitler being a leader..? A. I believe that he was a good leader, I liked him a lot.
Q. Would you say that you helped and served your country for the best? A. I’m pretty sure I did my best, I don’t think I did anything I would regret.
Q. Do you believe your role in the war helped or hurt your cause? A. I think it definitely helped our cause. Even though I was opposed to an invasion of Russia at first, I think the attacking of their submarines was a good plan. If we hadn’t attacked them, they would have attacked us.
Q. Do you know what the “general plan and conspiracy”? A. It had been a plan we made. Q. Who was the closest to you in this trial? A. I think that Karl Donitz’s case was the most similar to mine. We held the same office. He was the one to replace me as the German Navy Commander in 1943. He also replaced Hitler after his death on April 30, 1945.
Q. Do you know what your most serious charges would’ve been? A. I think it would have been the U-boat activities.
Q. Do you have any idea of what prison you will end up in, or not..? A. I will just probably go to Spandau Prison, I’d think anyways.
By: Kylee Thompson.
B4.
Erich Raeder was Commander of the German Navy in 1928 to 1943 during the Second World War. He was in trial at the Nuremburg trials and found guilty for war crimes. He received life in prison for his punishment. He had been in jail for nine years from 1946 to 1955. He died at the age of 84 in 1960.
Before the trial he thought he would be sentenced to death so he was going to request being killed by a gun. Erich Raeder said he wanted to be killed; he wanted them to shoot him. The reason he was in the Nuremburg Trials was because he ordered submarines to attack neutral ships with no warning.
Q. Why were you tried in these trials, and what is your name..?
A. I was Commander of the German Navy from 1928 to 1943. But my name is Erich Raeder.
Q. Do you think that you committed the crimes that you were convicted of?
A. I knew that I was breaking the law of the war when I did it, but I figured other countries were doing the same thing.
Q. And what were you convicted of..?
A. Conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against planning, peace, and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, and the war crimes.
Q. Do you believe that your punishment was right..?
A. I believe that I should just be killed, that was my thought at the beginning.
Q. Do you think you did the right think when you had followed Hitler..?
A. He had been the dictator type of Germany so I figured that I should probably follow him.
Q. What would you say about Hitler being a leader..?
A. I believe that he was a good leader, I liked him a lot.
Q. Would you say that you helped and served your country for the best?
A. I’m pretty sure I did my best, I don’t think I did anything I would regret.
Q. Do you believe your role in the war helped or hurt your cause?
A. I think it definitely helped our cause. Even though I was opposed to an invasion of Russia at first, I think the attacking of their submarines was a good plan. If we hadn’t attacked them, they would have attacked us.
Q. Do you know what the “general plan and conspiracy”?
A. It had been a plan we made.
Q. Who was the closest to you in this trial?
A. I think that Karl Donitz’s case was the most similar to mine. We held the same office. He was the one to replace me as the German Navy Commander in 1943. He also replaced Hitler after his death on April 30, 1945.
Q. Do you know what your most serious charges would’ve been?
A. I think it would have been the U-boat activities.
Q. Do you have any idea of what prison you will end up in, or not..?
A. I will just probably go to Spandau Prison, I’d think anyways.